Abbott fires up the faithful

By Mike Ward, Austin Bureau

Published 4:45 pm, Friday, June 6, 2014

FORT WORTH - Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial nominee Greg Abbott on Friday unveiled his “Bicentennial Blueprint” to create a new generation of excellence in Texas during the next two decades, starting with making Lone Star schools the best in the nation.

“We must build an even better Texas for tomorrow,” Abbott said in announcing his plan to thunderous applause at the Republican state convention, a vision punctuated with tea-party goals now part of the Texas Republican mantra. “It is time for government to answer to you, not the other way around.”

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Under Abbott's plan, packaging many of the issues he has been touting during his campaign, Texas would improve its systems of education, health care, public safety and ensure the state remains No. 1 in job creation, all of which he said are keys to Texas flourishing when it reaches its bicentennial in 2036.

Abbott's afternoon speech, during which he talked about how he overcame the serious accident years ago to underscore his call for Texas to work toward a new level of greatness, serves as a supercharged GOP pep rally for his statewide campaign to win in the November general election.

“We can and we will make Texas No. 1” in education nationally, Abbott told the crowd, pledging to reduce the practice of teaching-to-tests in classrooms and to allow local schools “to get out of mandates from Austin, Texas.”

Abbott will face Fort Worth Sen. Wendy Davis, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, in the general election.